Bose 901 series VI & Yamaha A-S2000

+1 on the Bose 901's. For years I read in forums as audiophiles bashed these famous speakers, but had not heard a new pair until recently.

FYI, I run Merlin TSM-MXr speakers with Manley tube amp, so I'm certainly nowhere near the "Bose mindset."

BUT....Guess what? The 901's I heard were a ton of fun. They filled a large room with clean musical sound that really impressed me. They were not set up for critical listening, but were well powered by Adcom stuff. I put my upturned nose away and said, "Those 901's actually sound good!" And they did.

Cheers,

Rob

Rrog, there's more than "Bose bashing" when it comes to this sort of thing. Believe your ears first and everyone else second.

When it comes to audio people either rave or rant and often without feet planted firmly.

Years ago I heard about a speaker called The Carver Amazing. It was a huge ribbon speaker with multiple subs in each panel. A audiophile friend commented that they got little love, but that most people had no clue about what they could really do when properly set up. I ended up buying a pair for an amazing 1200 dollars here in NY. To this day I've never had more fun with a pair of speakers. They played LOUD. They imaged and had depth. And they soaked up wattage like a sponge and created all kinds of room reflection issues while failing to be continuous from top-to-bottom. My current pair of Merlins are infinitely more refined; a more mature product in every respect.....but WOW those Carvers were a great time and I miss them. There has never been a speaker since to even come close to what they could do for the money, IF set up well.
Hearing those 901's blasting away reminded me of those Carvers. There's room for all kinds of speakers out there, folks!

Rob

Russ69, with all due respect this is not "back in the day." It's now and I've never heard anyone comment that the original 901's were best until now. The versions I heard sounded a good deal better than I remembered and I was impressed. Stereophile did a review of them in the mid 90's. It was a mixed review and they had issues with the design and the speakers difficult placement issues.
As I pointed out, my system is light years away from those 901's. I'm using expensive small monitors with tube power. But hearing the 901's was a nice reminder that there are different goals for designers. Those 901's filled the room with amazingly spacious sound. I didn't stop to analyze the timbre or image. It just sounded fun.
I agree with those who suggest the buyer hear other speakers, but no one should condemn a product without hearing it's current incarnation in more than one system and room. I've heard some highly respected speakers sound awful when paired with the wrong gear in the wrong room.

Cheers,

Rob